1905 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



427 



certain extent; for if you had 1000 colonies, 

 and they were all weak in bees, so they 

 would give you no surplus, they would not 

 be worth as much as one good strong colony 

 that would give you two or three hundred 

 pounds of honey. 



Several years ago one of my sons bought 

 nine colonies of bees in common box hives 

 about the 1st of June. He brought them 

 home and transferred them at once to mova- 

 ble-frame hives, and in about three weeks 

 divided them, making 20 colonies of the 9 he 

 bought, using some queen-cells I had on 

 hand for his surplus colonies. He then at- 

 tended to those 20 colonies so they were all 

 strong at the commencement of our buck- 

 wheat harvest. I then lent him 20 hives of 

 empty combs to put on top of his colonies to 

 extract from. He took 2849 pounds of ex- 

 tracted honey from those 9 colonies and 

 their increase, and left them in good condi- 

 tion, so every one came out the next spring 

 in fine order. Another son, the same sea- 

 son took one colony, divided into three, and 

 received 347 pounds extracted honey. They 

 also came through the following winter in 

 good condition. 



I speak of these cases simply to show that 

 it is not necessary to keep hundreds of colo- 

 nies in order to get a little honey. If you 

 will only keep strong colonies, and give 

 them the best of care, you will soon find both 

 pleasure and profit in bee-keeping. 



Delanson, N. Y. 



HATCHING CHICKENS OVER BEES; HOT-BEDS. 



"Good morning, Mr. Doolittle. Nice sun- 

 shiny morning this ! " 



"Ye-5. We have had a remarkable March. 

 Not a windy one as we usually have; nearly 

 all clear sky, and very little storm ; but the 

 first twenty days were very cold, while the 

 rest of the days were unusually warm, the 

 mercury going to 85 on the 29th." 



"That is about as I remember it at our 

 place. Did you set out any of your bees 

 from the cellar ? ' ' 



"Yes, about one- third of them ; and yes- 

 terday, the 31st of March, they were bring- 

 ing in pollen. But I think the rest will be 

 as well off in the cellars for a week or two 

 yet, as it is evident we are to have it cold for 

 a week or two yet, the way that cold north 

 wind is blowing this first day of April." 



" But will not the bees that are left in be- 

 come uneasy from the cellar's warming up 

 too much from those extremely warm days 

 for March?" 



"The cellar has not warmed up any yet, 

 nor will it before May. It was only 45 when 



we were setting the bees out ; and as they 

 scarcely spotted white clothes that were 

 spread out near the hives on their first 

 flight, I am sure they will be better off in 

 the cellar till this cold spell has passed by." 



"Will you set them back in the cellar 

 again if it continues cold ? " 



"No, I think not. The two that were 

 looked into had very little brood, so there 

 will be no brood to chill ; and as they have 

 plenty of honey I do not think it would pay 

 to put them in and then carry them out 

 again later on." 



"Well, I do not know that it will; but if 

 it came cold, and stayed so long, it would 

 seem better to have them back in the cellar 

 again. But that was not what I came over 

 to see you about. Did you ever try hatch- 

 ing chickens over a colony of bees ? " 



"No." 



"But have yoa not seen what is being 

 said in the matter in Gleanings of late?" 



"Yes, and have been tempted to write 

 something in the matter, but did not get 

 to it." 



"But— excuse me— if you have never tried 

 the matter how should you be able to write 

 any thing understanding^ on the subject?" 



' ' Well, just by having a knowledge that 

 tells me the thing can't be done." 



" How can you have such knowledge when 

 you have never tried the matter ? ' ' 



"On the same principle that you know 

 that a new-born babe can not live without 

 air to breathe." 



" How is that ? " 



" From many experiments during the past, 

 I know that the temperature inside the 

 brood-nest of a colony of bees ranges be- 

 tween 92° and 98°, never being allowed to 

 go higher than the last-named figures; and 

 the temperature over any brood-nest, or 

 even close up to the bees enclosing the brood, 

 can not be as high as that inside, unless the 

 temperature out in the open air rises above 

 98'^, which is something it never does in this 

 locality, at a time of the year when it would 

 be an advantage to raise chickens." 



"That you make plain; but it is not plain 

 to me that you are right in your assertion 

 that 'the thing can not be done,' when you 

 have not tried it." 



" But you did not wait long enough for 

 me to make the whole plain." 



"Well, I'll wait. Go ahead! " 



"Those who have tested the matter re- 

 garding the temperature at which eggs are 

 kept under a sitting hen know that the 

 ?ame is from 101 to 104 degrees, so that the 

 ' incubator man' keeps the temperature in- 

 side his incubator as near 102 to 103 as possi- 

 ble, knowing that either a greater or a less 

 degree gives him weaklings for chickens; 

 and if as low a temperature as 98 is allowed 

 for any great length of time, an entire fail- 

 ure is the result. Now, knowing this, it is 

 jus^t as certain, without even a single trial, 

 that not one single egg will ever bring forth 

 a chicken over a colony of bees, as it is cer- 

 tain that a new-born babe can not live with 

 all air excluded from it. Yea, more; if 



